Challenging the Overloaded Ox-Cam Arc

HM Government’s Framework Spatial Plan for the Ox-Cam Arc raises many unanswered questions. NEG’s full Press Release provides some information for our supporters to use in challenging the Overloaded Arc.

There has been remarkably little publicity following the release on 18th February of HM Government’s “Planning for sustainable growth in the Oxford Cambridge Arc” and a flurry of news articles on the day itself (see the previous NEG News item ‘At last the Arc Spatial Plan!). The various committed Local Authorities welcomed the plan. Yet an article in the previous day’s Guardian highlighted the problem of the Government’s relentless push for development destroying rural England. These are the dangers that the Arc communities now face.

The Prime Minister instructs to ‘Build, build, build’, and promises to abolish ‘newt-counting delays’ from the planning process. Those delays, and much else, would be swept aside by the recent Planning White Paper that form a central plank to speed up delivery of the Ox-Cam Arc plans; plans with high-growth ambitions presented under a guise of preserving nature and creating vibrant, economically productive, zero-carbon communities of the future. Ask yourself the question; which Government would ever offer the opposite of what is promised? Which Government would ever set out to create destructive, stagnant, economically draining, high-carbon communities (apart, of course, from a whole string of previous Governments that have done precisely that, also in the name of ‘progress’)? So why bother to promise, as something very special, things that any good Government should be providing as a matter of course?

Following the release of the Framework Spatial Plan, NEG sent out a press release with the following summary points. For the full press release, please click on the image on the right, below.

NEG Press release in response to HM Government’s ‘Planning for sustainable growth in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc’ released 18/02/21

Challenging the Overloaded Ox-Cam Arc

The Oxford-Cambridge Arc

 ·         Introduction. The Arc is an entirely artificial construct, an area between two University towns which, like any other group of five counties in England, contains a disparate group of scientific and economic activities within and extending beyond its boundaries, a variety of landscape and heritage assets, a shortage of infrastructure, poor transport links where not oriented on London, prolonged under-investment, and opportunities for growth.

·         Housing. The Arc has housing needs that can be addressed by competent and funded local authorities.  Almost one quarter (23%) of the inflated housing growth in the Arc plans is ear-marked for London commuters, contributing little to local economic growth, and the final figure is likely to be very much higher.  The considerable social housing needs of Arc residents have been totally ignored.  The Arc does not need and cannot support the one million houses that are required, according to Government estimates, to meet the ambitions for it.

·         Growth/Jobs/Economics.  There is a great deal of variation in the rates of growth, innovative skills and net contributions to the economy across the Arc.  The recent document ‘cherry-picks’ data (patents, levels of education, Gross Value Added) to claim special consideration for the Arc.  There is no evidence that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  Independent analyses have identified potential growth Arcs and growth hubs elsewhere in the country that could contribute more to the economy overall, and would achieve the Government’s stated aim of ‘levelling-up.’  Funding the Arc would do the opposite of ‘levelling-up’.

·         Environment. The extraordinary damage to the environment, and therefore people’s lives and wellbeing, is greenwashed with techniques that have already been shown to fail elsewhere, and have never been tried at scale, anywhere.

·         Democracy. Not a single public meeting has taken place in five years, while councillors have been gagged with Non-Disclosure Agreements.  Now we have more vague promises of public consultation, compressed into a few months, for a plan with no spatial detail nor any indication of the target levels of growth and development across the Arc.

·         Transport. More road building will not ease congestion and will continue to pollute.  There is still no commitment to electrify and freight enable the East West Railway.  The Expressway (‘paused’ since March 2020) has still not been cancelled.

·         Call to action. If you want the country that you enjoy, not the one that property developers exploit for corporate profit, please come and support us, and lobby your councillors and MPs.